A Tacoma cupcake bakery has opened a second outpost in Puyallup, a new craft cocktail lounge and restaurant will open on the Foss Waterway later this summer, and an Irish pub will open in downtown Puyallup this month. Read all about newcomers to the South Sound restaurant scene:
MORE CUPCAKES? DON’T WE HAVE ENOUGH?
Another cupcake shop?
Yes. Another cupcake shop. This is the third Pierce County cupcake shop to open in the past few months. In case you missed it, last month I wrote about Yummers 2 the 3rd Power near Pacific Lutheran University and Blazing Cupcakes on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma (read more at blog.thenewstribune.com/tnt diner).
Now the Proctor cupcake store Jubilee has opened a second outpost on Puyallup’s South Hill. The bakery opened Monday adjacent to Regal Longston Place cinemas.
With three new cupcake bakeries this year, the question has to be asked: Haven’t we reached max capacity for cupcake bakeries? We already have Hello, Cupcake in Tacoma, Le Cupcake in Graham and the original Jubilee in Proctor.
I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer to see a pie shop or more full-service dessert bakeries like Corina Bakery in Tacoma. I’m tired of cupcakes.
And it turns out that Jubilee bakery owner Patti Frank agrees with my cupcake fatigue. She plans to turn Jubilee into a full-service dessert bakery with upscale and everyday pastries, as well as a line of gluten-free baked goods. Watch for that in the next several months.
For those who have visited the Proctor Jubilee cupcake and candy store, you’ll notice one thing missing in Puyallup: vintage candy. Frank said she won’t offer candy at the Puyallup store, which is attractively, but sparsely, decorated in classic white with hanging chandeliers.
I dropped in anonymously for an evening visit earlier this week and found a nearly bare cupcake case. Lesson: Call ahead. What was in stock was tasty, but limited.
Everyday cupcake offerings are the usual vanilla and chocolate varieties, but also red velvet, mocha and the popular chocolate bacon cupcake (with bacon embedded in the chocolate base). The bakery also offers daily cupcake specials, such as pink champagne, lemon meringue, carrot and chocolate mint. Cupcakes are $3 each.
GET SOCIAL ON THE FOSS WATERWAY
Three alumni of the tequila bar and Tex-Mex restaurant Matador are opening a craft cocktail lounge and small plates restaurant on the Foss waterway.
Social Bar and Grill will open in the space that formerly housed Woody’s On The Water until its January closure. Look for a July-ish opening for Social, said co-owner Philip Panagos. He most recently worked as Matador’s general manager.
Opening the restaurant with Panagos is Jason Bailey, who was the manager of Paddy Coyne’s until April; before that, he worked for Matador for five years, serving on the opening crew for five of the local chain’s restaurants. Panagos and Bailey will own and operate the restaurant with Rodel Borromeo, who until recently was Matador’s corporate executive chef.
Social intends to be just that. Shareable pitchers of sangria and mojitos and shareable appetizer plates will create a convivial vibe the restaurant owners have in mind.
In keeping with that theme, here’s something new for Tacoma: communal seating. While Social might not open with communal seating, “we’ll be growing into it,” said Panagos by phone. Panagos said diners ultimately will dictate the seating configuration. If it’s welcomed, seating that encourages strangers to dine together will become a fixture.
Panagos described the menu at Social Bar and Grill as eclectic with an emphasis on value dining. Look for small plates starting in the $5 range and happy hour specials. There also will be large plates that top out at $20.
Panagos and Borromeo described the menu as painted by their travels to Mexico, Italy, the Mediterranean and South Pacific.
“It will be an eclectic menu, more than Tacoma’s used to,” Panagos said.
Expect an update in the decor and minor changes in the layout of the waterfront view restaurant adjacent to the Museum of Glass. The circular bar will see some changes, and some walls will be reworked. Panagos described the decor shift as “rustic industrial.” Materials used to give the decor a facelift include steel and reclaimed wood.
A NEW HOME FOR EAST PIERCE SOUNDERS FANS
The Twisted Kilt Irish Pub and Eatery wants to be to Puyallup what Doyle’s Public House is to Tacoma: a headquarters for soccer fans.
Depending on how health inspections go, owners Bryan Purdy and Jason Pingrey expect to open the Twisted Kilt this weekend or next week at 109 S. Meridian, the location that formerly housed Bagel Boyz Bakery.
The pub will feature 14 beer taps. Food will be American pub food with an Irish twist.
Chef Greg Savage, who is finishing his culinary degree at the Art Institute of Seattle, said he plans a menu with bangers and mash, corned beef and cabbage, Shepherd’s pie and fish and chips.
Savage and crew have created a few house specialties, including an Irish twist on nachos and the Twisted burger, a corned beef sandwich and burger in one. Expect a price point from $7-$10, with most entrees less than $10.
As for soccer, expect a lot of that at Twisted Kilt.
“We’ll be the official Sounders pub of the downtown Valley,” Purdy said by phone.
Sue Kidd: 253-597-8270 sue.kidd@thenewstribune.com
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